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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27260425">A New Man in Town</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/wentasre/pseuds/wentasre'>wentasre</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto Series (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Complete, Friendship, Gen, Headcanon, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, My First AO3 Post, Post-Canon, Stimming, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Trans Male Character, Trans Niko Bellic, totally not self-indulgent stimming niko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 01:28:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,347</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27260425</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/wentasre/pseuds/wentasre</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bernie helps Niko feel better about his identity, in one way or another.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Niko Bellic &amp; Bernie Crane, Niko Bellic &amp; Original Character(s), No Romantic Relationship(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>my first post woo!<br/>here's a thing i wrote for fun that i'm also gonna write a second chapter for (someday)<br/>i plan on expanding my trans niko headcanon to more than just mindless fluff, don't worry!</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Bernie has a gift for Niko and tells him about a group he could join.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Niko kept getting more and more impatient waiting at the locked door. Bernie told him to meet him at his apartment in Middle Park West. Knowing him, Niko thought it was nothing more than him wanting to spend some more time together. But why at his apartment specifically?</p><p>The door finally opens, revealing Bernie in his regular attire, black pea coat over a striped shirt and black jeans. He greeted Niko warmly.</p><p>"Niko! Please, come in."</p><p>Niko followed him into the living room. "What's going on?"</p><p>"Ah, nothing in particular…"</p><p>"Really?"</p><p>“Yes, but I need to talk to you.” Bernie then waved his hand at the couch. "Take a seat."</p><p>Niko did as he was told. Together with the throw pillows, the couch ended up being way more comfortable than it looked. He stretched himself a little on it.</p><p>"Niko, ever since that night you burst into my apartment and tried to kill me, I just kept thinking about you…"</p><p>"I really don't like where this is going." Niko chuckled lightly.</p><p>"No, no, no! It's nothing like that!"</p><p>"I'm listening…"</p><p>"Back in the war, we were all angry young boys that wanted to make a change." Niko nodded approvingly. "And then… there was you! Everyone was like ‘How did this girl get in here? Her place is not in the army!’ You were always different."</p><p>"Yeah, alright. What are you trying to say by this?"</p><p>"I totally get you, I came here to be myself. And, you see, ever since I came here, I interacted with all sorts of people, many of which were just like me… And others were just like you!"</p><p>"Oh!" Niko knew for a fact he wasn't alone within his identity, especially in a country like the United States.</p><p>"And before I say anything else…" Bernie reached at the coffee table and grabbed the gift bag laying on it. "…a gift from me." he said as he handed it to Niko.</p><p>"Wow, so the Infernus wasn't enough? Thanks."</p><p>"Don't get me wrong, this is just out of pure friendship. I'm sure you're gonna love it." He then signaled to Niko that it is okay to see what is inside.</p><p>He reluctantly opened the bag. Inside he saw some neatly-folded fabric, one half blue, the other pink. "<em>What even is this?</em>" he asked himself. The texture was too unusual to be clothing.</p><p>"Come on, take it out!"</p><p>Niko took the fabric out of the bag. It was very smooth to the touch. He quickly eyed his friend in slight embarrassment and began to unfold it. "<em>Is this…</em>" The realization hit him like a train going at full speed.</p><p>"<em>Oh my God, it is!</em>" Five horizontal stripes – two blue, two pink and one white – the transgender pride flag. A rather big one, just the right size to hang on a pole on your house just like everyone does with the American flag it seemed.</p><p>He started laughing coarsely and flapping his hands. "I-I am so sorry you ha-have to see me like this. <em>J-jebati…</em>" He got flustered quickly.</p><p>"It's totally fine, Niko. Although, I have to say, I'm quite surprised you know what that flag stands for!" Bernie added while patting his shoulders.</p><p>"K-keep it together…" Niko whispered to himself while both of his hands were lightly slapping his cheeks. He managed to somewhat control his burst of energy. "I'm just… really happy!" He gave Bernie a bright smile. "And of course I know what this is. The Internet’s got a lot of info on my identity."</p><p>“Never seen you this happy before, though… I am usually the one that gets riled up like that.”</p><p>"Yeah. Whenever this joy gets too intense I just start feeling this built-up energy inside me that HAS to get out, otherwise I feel like I could explode at any moment." Niko pressed his cheek lovingly on the flag. "<em>Mnogo vam hvala…</em>"</p><p>Bernie sat down right next to Niko. "You're very welcome! I have a rainbow flag too, but I don't use it often. Maybe you can put yours to good use!"</p><p>"I definitely wouldn't fly it for the public eye. At least just not yet."</p><p>"These can also be hung up on a wall."</p><p>"Hmm… yeah… I think I might have just the right wall for it!"</p><p>Niko folded the flag back just like he found it and put it back in the gift bag. Just as he placed the bag down next to him, he found himself getting squeezed by Bernie. He looked down at him and placed a friendly hand on his back.</p><p>Bernie let loose of the squeeze. "So, do you want anything to drink?"</p><p>"Just some water."</p><p>Bernie got up and skipped into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and grabbed two bottles of water. Fancy bottled water, that is. He handed Niko one of them and took his seat back on the couch.</p><p>Niko opened the bottle and took a deep sip. He didn't quite like it, yet he kept on drinking anyway. "So… you mentioned meeting people just like me here. Tell me more."</p><p>"Oh! Transgender people aren't all that common but they sure are really nice people. You see, one of my close friends is one. He used to come to Hercules a lot."</p><p>"Is he also gay?"</p><p>"Yes, but don't imagine I ever interacted with him in THAT way! No, no!” He paused for a bit. “Anyways, he told me he's part of this support group made out of some other trans people. It’s even sorta got a website, you should join them!"</p><p>"Eh, I don't know…"</p><p>"Come on! But, to be honest, I don't remember the exact web address."</p><p>Niko placed the bottle in the bag and picked it up. "I'll think about it."</p><p>"Aww, leaving already?"</p><p>"I’ve got to hang the flag. Ah, that rhymed!” Niko stopped at the entrance. “Well then. See you again sometime, Bernie!"</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>As he was driving across the Hickey Bridge, Niko pondered on joining the group. "<em>I should give it a try at least. Surely nothing bad could happen and Florian seems to be familiar enough with them.</em>" He finally made it to Alderney City and stopped in front of an apartment building close to the bridge exit.</p><p>Niko went inside the apartment building, where he then entered the first apartment on the second floor. Ray Boccino had given it to him in quite a neglected state, but, with time, he managed to tidy up some things. Especially those disgusting kitchen counters… those were replaced entirely, in fact… The place was small, yet cozy. Niko easily considered this his 'proper' home; he always comes here whenever he feels like taking a refuge.</p><p>He inspected the wall right next to the entrance and above the dining table. Just the perfect spot to hang the flag. He placed the bag on the table and went into the room next to the wardrobe. A small storage room where he kept a bunch of stuff: all the junk he first found laying around the apartment, even more junk already stored there and various tools.</p><p>"This probably isn't the best idea, but I don't have anything else…" he told himself while picking up a hammer with four nails and returning to the living room. He took the water bottle out of the bag and moved it into the mini-fridge.</p><p>He held the flag by two corners and moved it around the wall in order to find the perfect placement. Once pleased, he let go of the right corner and grabbed one of the nails. He hammered the nail in the left corner, then did the same with the other three.</p><p>When done, he moved back past the dining table to look at the result. Sure, the flag just got pierced into four places, but it looked good on the wall.</p><p>He grabbed the phone from his jacket’s pocket and took a photo of the wall. "<em>here. excuse the fucked wallpaper.</em>" he texted Bernie with the photo of the flag attached. Niko didn't get to replace the wallpaper yet, he actually liked the current pattern.</p><p>He got the bottle of now-cold fruity water and took another sip. "<em>This tastes like shit, how can Florian even drink this?</em>" He sat down on the couch and turned on the tiny TV. He was now waiting for a response from his friend.</p><p>A few minutes later, his phone rang – Bernie. Niko gladly accepted the call. "Hey, did you get my message?"</p><p>"Of course I did! It looks lovely, and don't worry about the wallpaper, it’s got its own charm actually."</p><p>Niko started laughing. "Oh, by the way… I’d like to join that support group."</p><p>"Wonderful! Don't worry, I actually looked for the address just for this occasion. It's <em>www.jemmasworld.freesite.com</em>."</p><p>Niko noted the web address down in his organizer for the next day at 1pm. "Is that really how the group is called?"</p><p>"Ah, no. It's the group leader's personal website, but she does talk a lot about the group and she is always open to chat with people. Hit her up."</p><p>"Alright, I'll check it out tomorrow."</p><p>"Perfect, I’m gonna tell Daryl about you."</p><p>"Daryl? …oh, your friend from Hercules?"</p><p>"Yes. He'd love to meet you, Niko."</p><p>"I bet he would… Thanks again for the flag and for the call. We should meet again sometime."</p><p>"We definitely should. We simply got so much to catch up on. And please let me know how the group stuff goes."</p><p>"Okay, goodbye and goodnight."</p><p>"Byeee!" finished Bernie in his usual sing-song voice and then hanged up. Niko put the phone back into his pocket and enjoyed the rest of his night in the intimacy of the apartment.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The time was around 1pm. Niko went inside the TW@ in Berchem. The atmosphere there was just as usual – the grumpy cashier, a lot of computers left unoccupied, The Journey playing non-stop on the speakers. Quite pleasant, in fact.</p><p>Niko paid the $1 fee and sat down at one of the computers. He logged on his eyefind mail account and checked his emails. Nothing new except for yet another mail from Brucie about his desperation to be seen by the public eye. "<em>I think you might be slowly losing your sanity over this, Brucie.</em>" Niko replied.</p><p>He took his phone out and opened his organizer. In the search bar, he typed in the web address he noted down in his phone's organizer. <em>www.jemmasworld.freesite.com </em></p><p>He successfully accessed the website and was greeted by an image of a plump Black woman 'holding' a sign saying "Jemma's World" that was obviously edited in after the photo was taken. The entire page looked quite gaudy, but Niko liked it. It has got personality and it's clear that the owner had lots of fun designing it.</p><p>Under the image were multiple buttons, each leading to different pages within the website. Niko clicked on the one labeled Group and was taken right where he wanted.</p><p>"<em>As many (if not all) of y'all might know, I'm Transgender. My life has been quite hard in the past because of it. But despite everything, I was able to make it out of the harshness of circumstance alive and well. </em></p><p>
  <em>That being said, after landing in LC and finally making sense of my life as an actual woman, I decided to start a group for other people just like me. Anyone is free to join, the only requirement is that ya gender don't align with your biological sex! Feel free to contact me about it or simply show up if ya feel like it. </em>
</p><p><em>Meetings every Saturday, 3pm, at the community center in Dukes</em>" Below the introduction text was a small blog where Jemma described every meeting. The group was rather small but it looked friendly and welcoming. Niko read some of the most recent posts and then clicked on the Contact me tab.</p><p>Now on her contact page, he saw a number of different usernames for all sorts of websites and chatrooms. Among them he found her email address - <em>jemmahere@eyefind.inf</em>o.</p><p>He decided to shoot her an email. "<em>Hey. My friend told me about your group and I was thinking I should probably join too! It looks really fun and I'd love to be part of it. The name is Niko, by the way.</em>" He did not hesitate to send it.</p><p>While browsing some articles on the Liberty Tree, he saw a new email notification. "<em>She's this quick?</em>" he said to himself. He clicked on the envelope icon at the top of the browser window and was taken back to the eyefind mail website. The new email was, indeed, a reply from Jemma.</p><p>"<em>Hey Niko! Thanks for the email. </em></p><p><em>Ya more than welcome to join and we'd love to meet ya. Come at the Dukes community center this Saturday at 3pm. But I suppose y'already know that.</em>"</p><p>Niko wrote a quick and final email to let her know he read her reply. "<em>Will sure do! See you all there.</em>" He logged off and added a new entry to his organizer for the meeting.</p><p>He walked out of the internet café quite pleased of himself. He was going to meet some new people in two days, and most importantly, people just like him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Niko finally gets to visit the group and meet new people.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hi!! i didn't die, i just had a bit of writer's block but i'm back now (although please never expect a consistent uploading schedule from me lol)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Saturday finally came. Niko was actually quite restless these past two days. He kept thinking about how he was going to give his first impression with Jemma's group. "<em>What did I get myself into?</em>"</p><p>He had to dress up nicely, but not elegant either. He opened the wardrobe and stared at the clothes inside for some time. He finally settled for the dark green plaid shirt and black chinos from Modo and the black wingtips from Perseus. He went into the bathroom and inspected himself in the mirror. He shaved that morning and the hair had already started to grow back. All in all, he was pleased with how he looked.</p><p>He got out of the Alderney City apartment at about 2pm. He could easily make it right in time if there were no bad traffic. But what to expect from Liberty City? "<em>on my way to the community center. talk to you after i'm done.</em>" he texted Bernie right before getting inside his car.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Already onto a bad impression. Niko arrived at the community center about 10 minutes late. He entered the building and walked up to the reception desk. The woman tending at the desk seemed really interested in her computer rather than what was going on in the building.</p><p>"Hello there… Is there any group meeting going on right now?" he asked shyly. "A rather small group, at that."</p><p>The receptionist stopped her typing yet she did not lift her face away from the screen. "There is one, indeed," she then pointed to one of the doors along the hallway. "right over there, in Hall C."</p><p>"Perfect… Thank you!" As he left, the woman went back to her usual typing. "<em>She is nothing like Kate.</em>"</p><p>Niko walked up to the door. He could hear people talking behind it, but couldn't make up what they were saying. He was both nervous and excited for this. He couldn't stop fiddling his hands around trying to build up some courage. Compared to what other things he had done in the past, this was nothing. Even he found himself irrational in this case.</p><p>He took a deep breath and opened the door. Hall C was rather small yet looked just perfect for a meeting like this. Inside he found 4 people sitting and chatting on chairs arranged in a circle, with one additional empty chair. He easily recognized the familiar Jemma among them. He finally went inside as all four turned their heads in his direction.</p><p>"H-hello… Sorry if I-I'm late."</p><p>Jemma waved politely at him. "Hi, ya not late at all! Ya Niko?" He nodded approvingly. "Oh, sorry we didn't save a chair for ya… Hold on." Jemma rushed to the row of unused chairs next to the wall and moved one within the circle. "Sit."</p><p>Niko did as told. Next to him were the already set empty chair and a seemingly Southeast Asian woman. He glanced at everyone sitting in the circle, trying to make himself an idea of who he was going to spend the next hour with. Or maybe more than an hour, actually…</p><p>He found the woman next to him touching his shoulder and looking straight at him. "So, new guy, tell us something about yourself!" she spoke up.</p><p>Niko took a few seconds to finally say anything. "Uh… my name is Niko Bellic, I'm 30 years old and I decided to give this group a go…"</p><p>"Name sounds foreign… and nice Eastern European accent."</p><p>"Straight outta Hove Beach!" the third woman, who wore glasses, remarked enthusiastically.</p><p>"Yep… I used to live in Hove Beach some time after coming in this country. Things didn't quite work out in our favor though, let's just say that."</p><p>"And where ya live now?" continued the other woman.</p><p>"Multiple places. Today I came all the way from Alderney City."</p><p>"Interesting." And a few moments of slightly awkward silence came.</p><p>The boy sitting in the circle made the next move. “You look like a dad, Niko.” he retorted as he walked up to him. "I'm Stephen, by the way." He held his hand out and so Niko shook it. Stephen returned to his seat satisfied and smiling.</p><p>Jemma got up once again. "So, y'already know this. I'm Jemma." she said while placing a hand on her chest. She moved that hand to first show the woman with the quirky glasses who was sitting next to her. "This is Margaret." And then she moved it to show the woman next to Niko. "And this is Ramona."</p><p>"What about the empty chair? Is that for Daryl?"</p><p>"Yep. Ya know him?"</p><p>"Not personally… You see, the guy that told me about the group is good friends with Daryl."</p><p>"So ya had some strings pulled! He's just arriving late. Something came up."</p><p>"Ah. No problem! And I thought I was late."</p><p>The five were chatting for some time until they heard the door open again. It was a man dressed in a tracksuit, he seemed to be somewhat older than Niko. He sat down on the empty chair. "Hey, guys. Finally!" he sighed.</p><p>Niko sat in complete silence. "Oh hey Daryl. What happened?" Margaret asked.</p><p>"That prick of my neighbor's son thought it’d be a good idea to shoot me with his soaker right as I was walking out the building. I REALLY had to dry myself off."</p><p>"Aww… Don't think too much about it. He's still really young."</p><p>"I know, I'm just-" He finally noticed the newest addition to the group. "Whoa… Niko Bellic?"</p><p>Niko smiled in return. "Exactly."</p><p>“Man, good to finally meet you!” Daryl walked right in front of the other wanting to hug him. "Bern told me about you."</p><p>He accepted the hug. "I bet he did." It was quite pleasant.</p><p>"You're really cool. And rather interesting…"</p><p>"Gee, thank you."</p><p>Daryl got back to his seat. "Did he introduce himself?" he asked Jemma.</p><p>"Of course."</p><p>"It's good to have you here, y'know?" he continued.</p><p>Niko did not realize he kept frantically moving his fingers around all this time. "Yeah?"</p><p>"It's always nice to see more trans guys." remarked Stephen. He stood out from the rest, as he was the earliest in his transition and most likely the youngest member of the group. He has always found Daryl quite intimidating, and now with yet another nicely passing man in the group he did not know what to make of it. "You pass really well." he added.</p><p>"Thank you…"</p><p>“Talk to us about your life. Only if you want to, of course.” Stephen chuckled.</p><p>"Alright."</p><p>And so did Niko do. He talked about his life before America, his exploration of gender and a bit about the war. He made sure to not give too much information, especially about all the things that could easily give him some good years to spend in prison. The other five members were intrigued, Niko had the richest and most fucked-up history in the group and they loved listening to him ramble about it.</p><p>About an hour after Niko's arrival, an alarm clock that was sitting on the table started ringing. This made Jemma immediately jump out of her chair and run to the clock in order to stop it.</p><p>"Seems like this week's meeting's over.” she announced while turning the alarm off. She walked closer to the chairs “We've had fun as always." and turned to the newcomer. "And Niko… good to have ya here!"</p><p>"Yeah. It's nice to have someone to talk about this stuff in detail."</p><p>"Are ya gonna return for next week?"</p><p>"Why wouldn't I?"</p><p>Jemma gave him a bright smile and made a finishing gesture. The other four started getting up, which in turn made Niko get up, too. They all waved to Jemma and told their goodbyes, including Niko, although shyly.</p><p>"Are you… not leaving?" he asked Jemma in a low tone. The others stood in place.</p><p>"I gotta tidy up after every meeting. Don’t cha worry about me, though."</p><p>Niko nodded slightly. "See you next week, then."</p><p>Jemma waved at them and was soon left all alone in the room. Niko and the rest of the group were walking down the hallway. As they walked past the reception desk, the receptionist gave them all ugly looks. Niko was surprised her eyes were not glued to the screen this time.</p><p>"Does she know who we are?" Niko asked turning his head to face Margaret who was the closest to him.</p><p>"Probably. Either way, she always was like this." she answered.</p><p>"She didn't even look at me when I arrived."</p><p>When they got out of the community center, they all exchanged goodbyes and gestures. This happened in all ways for everyone except Daryl, he did not say anything to Niko. Instead, he waited for everyone else to leave.</p><p>Niko noticed this and thought he would have to tell him something important, so he waited for them to split up. After they did, he got left alone with Daryl in the street.</p><p>Daryl approached him. "Hey, Niko. Can I ask you a favor?"</p><p>At this point Niko started thinking about what he was going to get asked. He had long left the life of crime and hoped for the best. "Go ahead."</p><p>"I don't have a car… and since you’re going back to Alderney, I suppose… Why not take me back to my place?"</p><p>"Of course." Niko slowly made his way to the car, with Daryl following him. "I thought you were going to tell me to kill someone."</p><p>"I ain't that kinda guy."</p><p>Both men hopped into Niko's car, with Daryl obviously driving shotgun, the radio already tuned in to Liberty Rock Radio.</p><p>"Oh! I love LRR."</p><p>"Eh, I'm not all that into classic rock, I'm more of a new wave guy." Daryl smiled, he loved new wave, too, yet he did not want to admit it.</p><p>Niko was driving toward the Algonquin Bridge slower than usual. "So, where do you live?"</p><p>"The Meat Quarter."</p><p>"Not exactly in my way, but I'll gladly take you home."</p><p>Then followed silence. Daryl eyed Niko from time to time. "<em>Now that's one macho man, I'll tell you that!</em>" he told himself.</p><p>As they were slowly making their way through the traffic in The Triangle, Niko finally said something, keeping his eyes on the road in front of them. "So… when did Bernie tell you I'm trans?"</p><p>"Yesterday. I was actually shocked." Daryl giggled. "You should've seen my face right after he told me."</p><p>"I hadn't come out to many people here. Bernie already knew since we grew up in the same village."</p><p>"He did tell me that… and he also told me you almost killed him when you two first met in Liberty City."</p><p>"I had a conflict to resolve, alright?"</p><p>"Yeah, yeah. No problem."</p><p>They slowly got out of the traffic and entered The Meat Quarter. Right as Niko was driving into a junction, Daryl quickly pat his shoulder. "Turn right."</p><p>And Niko turned right. "And… that right there’s where I live." Daryl further instructed, pointing at an apartment building not too far away from the moving car. Niko nodded and parked the car in front of the building.</p><p>Daryl unbuckled his seatbelt. "Thanks for the ride, man." he said, turning his head to Niko and staying still.</p><p>Niko returned the gaze, hands still on the steering wheel.. "You're welcome!"</p><p>"We should hang out sometime."</p><p>"Sure. Err, do you want my phone number?"</p><p>Daryl placed his hand on the car door handle, ready to open it. "Nah, Bern already gave me your number. I'll call you whenever I'm free. That alright?" he added.</p><p>Niko gave him a faint but honest smile. "Yeah."</p><p>Daryl opened the door and got out of the car, but he left the door open and looked at the other. "See you, Niko." he waved at him and closed the door.</p><p>Niko waved back at him, keeping the smile on his face. He then watched Daryl walk to the front door of the apartment building and get in. Despite losing him from his sight, Niko did not leave. Instead, he picked up his cellphone and started working the keyboard.</p><p>He tried to call Bernie, but he did not pick up. He eventually decided to not bother him with any more calls and just send him a message instead. "<em>done with the group. had a lot of fun and the people were really good with me. Daryl offered me to hang out when he's free!</em>" was his message.</p><p>After making sure it sent properly, he placed the phone back into his pocket and drove off. Back to Alderney City, where he could stare at the flag on his wall all he wanted and could finally feel proud of something for himself.</p>
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